


Crashlanding on Mars

by insanityinside



Category: Dororo (Anime 2019)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-09
Updated: 2019-04-09
Packaged: 2020-01-07 11:01:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18409280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/insanityinside/pseuds/insanityinside
Summary: In the aftermath of Episode 5, Hyakkimaru has some doubts.





	Crashlanding on Mars

For sixteen years Hyakkimaru had been aware of normal human senses in much the same way most people are aware of other planets. They were there, some day, maybe, it would be nice to learn more about them, but they had no direct impact on his day-to-day life. That is, until, a few days ago, he had found himself crashing into the surface of Mars. He was confused, lost in an alien world, and now in pain on top of it all.

Pain itself was a recent development. He'd thought he'd got the hang of it by now, but he'd been wrong. Cuts, scratches, burns, the fatigue of walking too long without rest. All of that was nothing compared to having a chunk of flesh ripped off by monstrous jaws. And, although his body, such as it was, recovered quickly from minor injuries, this one kept on hurting, even days after the incident.

Why had he done this? To get another piece of his body? Had he been that eager to turn his entire world upside down all over again? He wasn't even done recovering from the last time! Had he thought it would impress Mio? Idiot. Nobody here was impressed by foolishness.

There was a noise that he had learnt to recognize as the door sliding open and someone, one of the children, entered the room. It was the one they called Takebo, right? There were so many. Hyakkimaru was not used to being around so many people all at once, and he wasn't used to people's names being sounds instead of shapes. The kid walked slowly, carrying something in his one hand.

"I brought you some medicine," he said a little too loudly "For the pain."

Hyakkimaru considered this. He'd been given... something like this before. Something that had eased the pain for a while, but it had made his mind go all fuzzy, almost as though he had a fever. Was that really worth it? Not thinking clearly was how he'd ended up like this in the first place. Maybe he should just try to get used to pain. As far as he understood, it was just a normal part of being human. Of being whole. Or as close to it as he'd ever be.

He shook his head.

"You sure?" The boy set the cup down on the floor "This stuff really helped me with my arm, you know?"

For a moment Hyakkimaru wished he had his real eyes. Not so that he could see, but so that he could _glare_ at this kid properly.

"I mean, it's still gone" the boy admitted "I don't reckon that sort of thing ever happens to anyone but you. But it hurt a lot less than it could have."

A small sound escaped from Hyakkimaru's mouth, the tone of a question without any words attatched to it.

"Oh, your brother told me all about it! About the demons and everything."

Another little sound, like a disembodied question mark.

"Yeah, you're his brother! Just like Mio is our big sister. And if you marry her some day, we can all be one big family!"

Hyakkimaru wasn't sure he understood all that, but what he thought he'd understood... well... Why did his face feel so hot all of a sudden? The kid burst out laughing, loud enough to make Hyakkimaru cover his ears.

"Sorry, sorry!" he said "It just looks really funny, you know? Your entire face blushing, except for your nose."

Right... Ever since he'd lost the mask, people could read his emotions just as easily as he could see theirs. Sometimes it helped him get a point across. Sometimes, apparently, it looked ridiculous. He tried to cover his face with his hand.

"Anyway," the boy kept on talking "I bet you don't wanna settle down until you're done with your quest, eh? That makes sense."

But Hyakkimaru wasn't sure if he wanted to continue his quest at all. He certainly wasn't ready just now. He turned his face toward his leg stretched out uselessly on the floor, aching, bleeding, crippled yet again. Was this what he'd been fighting for all along? Pain, noise and a fragile body? Maybe he should just quit while he was ahead? He could hear songs now, and feel the rain on his face, and if he really had to, he could probably learn to talk. It couldn't be that hard if everyone around him was doing it _all the time_. As for his limbs, he was pretty sure that the ones he had right now could do anything real ones could, except hurt.

"What?" Takebo said after a few seconds of silence "What's that supposed to mean? You're not thinking of giving up, are you?"

Hyakkimaru let out a small exasperated sigh.

"Seriously?!" Anger flared up in the little boy's soul "Are you saying I should give up too?"

Hyakkimaru shook his head. He wasn't saying _anything_ , dammit!

"Oh, but you're sitting here, with your magical senses and your fancy mechanical arms, and you're thinking of giving up, just because of your foot!"

It wasn't _just_ about the foot. In fact, something was telling him that the foot was not yet a lost cause. But then what? More demons. More fights. More pain. More... strange things happening to his body. Possibly, more failures. All so that, maybe, one day he could pass for a normal human being? Was that really - ?

Takebo moved suddenly. The angry flame of his soul filled most of Hyakkimaru's vision. The stump of his left arm poked at the older boy's chest with a force that made him imagine what it feels like to be stabbed in the heart.

"You feel this?" he said "This happened when my house burned down. I lost my parents, I lost everything I had, and I lost my arm. And I'm stuck like this for the rest of my life. And you know what? I still have my dreams. I still have hope. I'm still not giving up. And you shouldn't either!"

When he finished his speech and took a step back, Hyakkimaru relaxed a little and slowly, uncertainly nodded his head. Then he reached for the cup on the floor, or at least where he thought it should be. Takebo picked it up and handed it to him.

"That's right," he said "Drink up, so you can get back on your feet." His soul flickered with uncertainty for a moment, as he glanced at Hyakkimaru's wooden leg and bloody stump. "Er... metaphorically," he said " _For now_."

Hyakkimaru drank the medicine. It was bitter, and bitterness was to taste what pain was to feeling, what a cacophony of screams was to sound, but taste itself was just an afterthought to all the things going on in his mouth and throat right now. He could tolerate it just long enough for the pain to start fading away. Then he nodded again, with more certainty and a faint smile. He had to get better. He had a whole new world to explore.

 

 


End file.
